TLEIKW AANi, THE "BERRIED" LANDSCAPE: THE STRUCTURE OF TLINGIT EDIBLE FRUIT RESOURCES AT GLACIER

ASTRACT.This paper analyzes the structure of a relatively neglected resource in Tlingit and Northwest Coast etlmology: berries. Historically, like salmon streams and other key resource areas among the Tlingil of Southeast Alaska, prime berry patches were named, owned, managed, and celebrated as places. Certain berries, including those found in the vicinity of Glacier Bay National Park, were recognized as being of exceptionally high quality and abundance. Glacier Bay berries were internationally renowned, widely traded, and comprised an important nutritional component of the diet and symbolic element in ceremonial feasts. Maintaining the productivity of prized berry patches involved a variety of techniques and strategies to control supply and demand and thus avoid shortages. Despite National Park Service restrictions on hunting and fishing in Glacier Bay, berry picking remains an important communal subsistence activity in the park--one relatively free from controversy and competition-that continues to bind modern Tlingit groups to their ancient homelands.